Mr. Speaker, I would like to respond to the point of privilege raised on Monday, February 7 by the hon. member for Kings—Hants in what he contended is a matter of privilege.
The member based his complaint on the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Finance which was tabled in the House a few minutes before the member rose with his grievance.
The 10th report indicates that the standing committee has attempted to secure certain documents or electronic files and that the response has been that, in the format requested, these documents are cabinet confidences relating to the secret deliberations of the cabinet and not normally made public.
The hon. member for Kings—Hants notes one instance where a previous government has released what he contends are identical documents. However, this is in dispute by this government based on information provided by those in the Department of Finance who have confidential access to both the previous and current documents. So there would appear to be a dispute as to the facts in this instance.
The Standing Committee on Finance has never asked the House to order the production of these documents and it does not do so in the 10th report.
The committee has reported that there is a dispute over documents. One side contends the documents fall into the category of cabinet secrets, which by convention are not produced. The member, by citing the one instance of prior disclosure, admits that these have been considered cabinet confidences, but that is an argument for another place and another time.
At the moment there is no House order for the production of specific documents and therefore it is my submission that there is no prima facie case to be considered.
However, the government is not insensitive to inquiries for information and in that regard on Thursday, February 17 at page 8324 of House of Commons Debates the leader of the government in the House of Commons rose and tabled the information contained in the documents which the member for Kings—Hants sought in his motion and through the 10th report of the Standing Committee on Finance. This preserves the confidentiality required around documents which are classified as cabinet confidences yet meets the request by the member for Kings--Hants for specific data contained within the documents which by its nature is not a cabinet confidence.
Based on the argument laid out above and based on the fact that the government has willingly provided the information requested in the motion, I believe that there is not a prima facie case of privilege before you, Mr. Speaker.